Other problems faced by children when learning through the medium of English is that teachers tend to use question and answer sessions to elicit not only the correct answer for a specific topic but also as an opportunity to test their fluency in spoken English. Jo Arthur argues that this type of education complicates classroom communication because the teacher is trying to get the children to focus on both the medium (English) and the message. Sometimes teacher’s codeswitch to the first language in order to ensure a child’s understanding. In such cases teachers have often said that a lot of time is taken up in explaining the concept rather than teaching the subject.
In Africa the effects of colonialism are still visible in Africa's language policy. English is still the main language of education, politics and economics. 'In the 'Anglophone' countries (where in reality only 10-20 per cent of people are functionally proficient in English), there has been a tendency after independence to trim down the number of years of education in the African languages and to introduce a more rapid transition to the so-called 'international language of wider communication' (or ILWC), in this case English' (Heugh, 2008, p183). However, these changes have caused significant problems: introducing children to a second language (English) earlier rather than later simply means that they are unable to understand the language in which they are being taught. In 1997 the national language policy stated that every child was to have access to mother -tongue language education and good access to at least learning one or two other South African languages. However this was undermined by the Revised National Curriculum Statement (DOE, 2002). What was actually implemented was three years of mother tongue education and then a switch to English-medium education. A study conducted by Horne shows an 18 per cent decrease in school leavers who achieved a grade eight or above in English as a second language literacy in 2001 compared to 51 per cent in 1990. Furthermore discrimination and inequality within the assessment procedure were rife. For example children whose home language is English are exposed to less onerous assessment standards then those who learn English as an additional language.
In the past the success of English medium education in South Africa was judged through the achievement of high profile political leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo; their success was due to the highly trained English missionary teachers provided during British colonial rule and available only to mostly male children of various royal families, hence it became known as Royal education(Clark, p182). However, English as a medium for education for the less privileged in society can be regarded as a problem due to students not being able to afford highly trained English teachers. The success of English Medium education is thus dependent in such countries upon the socio-economic condition of the individual.
Further problems with English-medium education are that it helps create and maintain divisions and hierarchies within a country. According to Annamalai (1986) 'it is used for elite formation and preservation, intranational and international links between elites and international identity' (Annamalai,1986, p9 in Bourne,2008, p212). Whilst Bisong (1995) ( Bourne, 2008, p212) argues that parents want their children to learn English so they have a gateway to new opportunities; however Annamalai argues that the introduction of English in schools creates an exclusion factor rather than inclusion by providing yet another hurdle for children to jump through in order to increase their opportunities. Rogers (1990) (Bourne, 2008, p212) also argues that, although learning English is seen as passport to success, in reality 'few jobs exist at the managerial, academic and technical levels for which fluency in English is required. Few will be required to communicate with English speakers or to use English as an international language or for higher education. He claims that progress in education opportunities is likely to be achieved through local language education.
Another problem with English- medium education is selecting which variety of English to teach. There has been much debate on whether to teach a local variety of English or a Standard variety of English. The choice is largely dependent upon factors such as 'age, background, national context, career ambitions and employment opportunities' (Bourne, 2008, p192. Although there is recognition that a standard variety of English will serve better to enter the international arena, however how does one decide what is international English. For example from personal experience, whilst teaching at a British school in the Middle East children tended to adopt the American spelling. Although the IGCSE accepts the American Standard English, however up until the end of Key stage 3 children are penalized if they use American English.
In a country like the UK where English is the dominant language, English medium education is the solution to integration of minority groups into the dominant society. The 2010 annual census of schools has reported that 16 percent of primary school children do not speak English as a first language and 11.6 percent in secondary schools (Telegraph, 2010) Schools that are well resourced and funded are able to provide specialist EAL(English as an additional language) and bilingual teachers. However, where this is not the case and schools are underfunded and under resourced ‘learners of English can be left to sink or swim in a monolingual school curriculum’ (Bourne, 2008, p195). According to research undertaken by Collier 1987 (in Bourne,2008, p195) it takes a child at least five years to develop a new language needed for cognitive/academic purposes. The problem faced by some schools is the inability to provide enough support for children not only to learn English as an additional language but also to gain literacy skills, and understand curriculum subjects through the medium of English. Conversational skills may be picked up relatively quickly in the early years of school but it takes longer for them to reach the level of native speakers in academic language skills if the correct support is lacking in schools then there is a real danger that children will loose their entitlement to an education.
The problems associated with English-medium education in a setting where English is not the dominant language of the pupils’ homes or local community are varied. In developing countries the success is dependent upon the social background of the pupil. For the elite English medium education works well, as they have access to all the necessary resources and skills,the success of which can be seen through people like Nelson Mandela. In less privileged settings, limited resources and a lack of skilled language teachers means that children are not developing the necessary linguistic and cognitive skills.
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Bibliography
Mercer, N. (2007) ‘English as a classroom language' in Mercer, N., Swann, Jand Mayor , B (2007) ' Learning English' London, Routledge in association with The Open University. pp. 117 – 143
Monaghan, F (2007) ‘English in the curriculum' in Mercer, N., Swann, Jand Mayor , B (2007) ' Learning English' London, Routledge in association with The Open University. pp. 151 – 181
Bourne, J (2007) ‘English for speakers of other languages' in Mercer, N., Swann, Jand Mayor , B (2007) ' Learning English' London, Routledge in association with The Open University. pp. 189 – 217
'Resource and Reference materials' (2009) The Open University. pp79-84
DVD 2, Unit 20 and 22
DVD 2, Unit 18 / DVD video 'The g
